Car insurance companies are likely to refuse to pay for car damage if your class of use does not match with how you use the vehicle. Forgetting to update your insurance provider when your situation changes or lying about your use to get the costs down will invalidate a policy and leave you forced to pay for your repair bills.
Insurance agreements are usually split into three different categories which will each have certain terms and set prices.
The categories are social use, social and commuting and business use and are used to tell insurers how the vehicle is being used.
Social and domestic
Social use would cover your vehicle through purely social occasions such as travelling to supermarkets or friends houses.
It will also cover things like holidays and picking children up from school and is the ideal agreement for house parents and young motorists.
Business use
Most road users will probably never need a business car insurance policy which offers slightly extra protection for this who travel around regularly.
Those who may need to purchase the policy are those who visit clients or travel to other offices for meetings.
The business class includes all the features of the other two policies but is likely to be more expensive than many other agreements.
This is because the car is being driven more often and therefore is at higher risk of being involved in a car accident.
What happens if I have the wrong policy?
Classes of use are used by car insurance companies to calculate the overall price of your cover.
High-risk motorists such as those travelling during peak times or using their car regularly will need to pay higher monthly premiums for their cover.
Using your car for more than you are covered for is a risky strategy and could leave your insurance invalidated in a flash.
This would be because insurance providers will say you have not paid for the type of agreement you required and therefore are not entitled to their services.
Insurance providers may not know where your car is every second of every day but could work out how you are using a vehicle if you claim on a policy after a crash.
Claiming for repairs after a collision in a train station while using the social and domestic policy could leave insurers questioning your actions.
If you are caught, motorists will likely see their policy invalidated and forced to pay for the repair bills themselves.
Lying on a poicy could also jeopardise your chance of getting a good car insurance agreement again in the future or you could see prices dramatically rise.
Matt Oliver GoCompare’s car insurance spokesperson said: “Remember to be honest about the vehicle’s use when taking out a policy, otherwise you could risk landing yourself in hot water and having any claim you make rejected.”